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The fortune Shahid R. Khan will tap to buy the Jacksonville Jaguars stems from a multibillion-dollar automobile parts manufacturing business in Illinois he built after immigrating from Pakistan at the age of 16.

In the legal arena, he has tangled for years with the Internal Revenue Service over his use of tax shelters from 1999 to 2003. The dispute with the IRS remains in court, and he also filed lawsuits against his former financial advisers.

For Jacksonville civic leaders who bonded with Wayne and Delores Weaver over the past 18 years, the arrival of a new Jaguars owner hits the reset button sooner than they anticipated. They said Tuesday they hope Khan will be as engaged as the Weavers have been in Jacksonville’s business and charitable organizations.

“I think when you’re buying a team, you’re buying a community, too,” said Jerry Mallot, executive vice president of JAXUSA Partnership, the regional economic development organization. “We have high expectations that he’ll be a very positive influence on the community just as Wayne and Delores have been.”

Khan did not meet with the media Tuesday. He will be introduced to Jaguars fans at the team’s Monday night game against San Diego.

He is owner and chief executive officer of the Flex-N-Gate Group, which has a full roster of automobile makers as clients. Flex-N-Gate employs about 12,500 people at 48 manufacturing plants and nine product development facilities in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Spain, according to the company.

While still in his 20s, Khan founded his own company, Bumper Works, and developed a one-piece bumper design for trucks. The innovation made the bumpers more durable because they don’t require welds that are prone to rust. Most pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles now use that design.

Khan purchased Flex-N-Gate in 1980, drawing on his engineering background to guide the company’s growth.

“We’ve watched in fascination and awe at what he has accomplished in business,” said Bill Sturtevant, senior principal gift consultant for the University of Illinois Foundation. “His business judgment is unparalleled.”

Like the Weavers, Khan and his wife have been philanthropists in their community, particularly the University of Illinois. Khan came to the United States to attend the college and earn an engineering degree.

Most recently, the couple made a $10 million donation for the Khan Annex to Huff Hall, home to the university’s college of Applied Health Sciences.

“One of the great joys of my life is making money,” Khan said at the September dedication ceremony. “ … What makes it even better is to use it to make a difference.”

Sturtevant said the Khans have given millions to other causes: the performing arts center, college of business, five endowed professorships and the city’s public library. The Khan name is on the school’s outdoor tennis complex.

“Shad has always been one of the go-to people in the community,” said Kent Brown, sports information director at the university. “He’s absolutely top-drawer, a great citizen and a great person.”

Amid the business growth and philanthropy, Khan has tussled with the IRS. An federal review of tax returns from 1999 to 2003 identified five transactions that were “potentially abusive tax shelters,” according to IRS documents filed in court. The Khans tried to shelter $250 million so they could cut their tax liability by about $85 million, the IRS said.

Khan told the The News-Gazette newspaper in Illinois that he and his wife fully paid the money in dispute, which he said was about $68 million. He also told the newspaper he hoped to recover the money through litigation.

A lawsuit by Khan against the IRS is still pending in U.S. Tax Court. He also is pursuing suits against his former financial advisers who helped set up the tax shelters.

Though Khan has deep roots in the Champaign-Urbana area, Jacksonville officials hope he will at least buy a second home here and even decide to make it his permanent residence as the Weavers did.

Sturtevant, the college foundation fundraiser, said Khan and his wife are “citizens of the world” in their travels, and he can easily see Khan spending much of his time in Jacksonville — “especially in winter,” he said with a laugh.

Ray Driver, chairman of a Chamber of Commerce committee that promoted Jaguars ticket sales, said the arrival of a new owner will give both Khan and the community a chance to engage.

“I think it will be a two-way street,” he said. “The Weavers came in and embraced the community, and the community embraced them back. I hope Mr. Khan will do the same thing and the community will embrace him.”

Unfortunately we have ignorant uneducated empty headed individuals that react to anything that involves a minority in the same simple minded way. Nothing surprises me. I look at the names on the posts and its the same old people. I wonder sometimes if they don't have anything better to do than sit around and grumble about a minority that is doing better in the world than they are. Maybe if they got up off their rear ends, away from the computers and put their energies to work they could do something outstanding too. In the meantime Jacksonville is cursed to have these kinds of people in our midst. And, alas, they do have a right to voice their opinions however dumb they may be. And we have the right to respond to them. I for one hope Mr. Kahn finishes what Mr. Weaver tried to do for so many years and bring Jacksonville a winner. Thanks Mr. Kahn. Welcome to Jacksonville.